Annual Report 2008

Overcoming Challenges,
Making a Difference
Our Vision
Ayuda’s mission is to protect the legal rights of low income immigrants in the DC
metropolitan area. We are the District’s leading source of multi-lingual legal and
social assistance for low-income Latinos and foreign-born persons in
immigration, human trafficking, domestic violence and family law. Our overall
goals are to improve the ability of our clients to live safe, violence-free lives and
become fully participating members of our community. Ayuda is recognized as a
safe, trusted community organization to which immigrants can turn for culturally
sensitive help to navigate the legal system, resolve their immigration status, and
gain access to social service benefits.

Our Locations
Our general walk-in consultation hours are Thursdays from 9:00 am to 11:00 am in
Washington, DC, and Wednesdays from 9:00 am to 10:00 am in Virginia. For
victims of domestic violence, human trafficking, and sexual assault our walk-in
hours are 9:00 am – 5:00 pm, Monday-Friday.

Ayuda – Virginia
Ayuda
46950 Community Plaza
1707 Kalorama Road, N.W.
Suite 213
Washington, DC 20009
Sterling, VA 20164
Phone: (202) 387-4848
Fax: (202) 387-0324 Phone: (703) 444-7009
Fax: (703) 444-2204
www.ayuda.com
Message from
The Executive Director
Dear Friends,
It is with much hope and pride that I send you Ayuda’s 2008 Annual Report.
This year was a very challenging one for Ayuda, and yet we have weathered the
storm and come out stronger. I am grateful to work with such a dedicated,
capable, and flexible team. Every member of the Ayuda team—staff, Board, and
supporters—devoted increased time, efforts, and ideas to meet our challenges
and embrace new solutions. Ayuda is now a much stronger, smarter, and more
intentional organization. We have realigned our priorities and our expenses to
stay true to our mission and values, and to ensure our long-term success in
supporting our immigrant community. The distribution of this Annual Report
is just one of the many tangible changes you will see with Ayuda’s renewed
commitment to fiscal discipline and transparency.
I invite you to join with me in reviewing our challenges and successes detailed in
this Annual Report. If you have more questions about Ayuda, I encourage you
to reach out to any of our exceptional staff or Board members. We’re very
proud of our accomplishments and would love to discuss them with you in more
detail! I thank you for your support—past and present—and look forward to
working with you for many years to come.

Sincerely,

Christina Wilkes
Acting Executive Director
Our Programs
• Immigration Remedies: Through weekly walk-in consultation hours, Ayuda
offers direct legal consultations with an attorney and/or paralegal on a wide variety
of family and humanitarian based immigration cases. Clients with a legal remedy
can request full representation in filing applications or court representation.

• Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault: Ayuda offers comprehensive legal and

social services for immigrant victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. Our
legal team offers assistance with temporary and civil protection orders and
represents clients who need long-term legal support with divorce, child custody,
and child and spousal support. Our social services staff provides crisis intervention,
safety planning and comprehensive case management, as well as facilitates
Hermanas Unidas (Sisters United), an on-going support group for Latina survivors
of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking.

• Human Trafficking: Ayuda provides victims of human trafficking with legal

assistance in obtaining visas and advocacy in criminal cases against traffickers.
Ayuda also provides social services to secure survivors’ emergency needs and access
to resources. Ayuda staff conducts community outreach and trainings for law
enforcement, service providers, and community organizations to identify and better
serve victims of trafficking.

• Children’s Project: Ayuda provides immigrant children and youth with legal
advice and representation in seeking asylum; special visas for abused, abandoned
or neglected children; and visas for victims of crimes and human trafficking. Staff
also conducts outreach and trainings aimed at identifying children needing
services.

• Community Legal Interpreter Bank: Ayuda’s newest program, made possible

through funding from the DC Bar Foundation, increases access to justice for Deaf,
Hard of Hearing, and Limited English Proficient people by identifying, training,
and providing interpreters for non-profit legal service providers in the District.
Additional services include telephonic interpretation, translation services, and
training for providers on working with professional interpreters.
Our Accomplishments
Our comprehensive legal and social services enable low-income immigrants to rise
above the obstacles they face and build better, more secure lives for themselves and
their families. In FY2008 Ayuda:

• Opened a satellite office in Sterling, Virginia to serve the legal needs of immigrants
who would have otherwise been unable to access our services.

• Launched the Llama Y Vive (Call and Live) campaign to combat human trafficking in
the DC region. In partnership with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the
Ricky Martin Foundation, and the DC Mayor’s Office on Latino Affairs, Ayuda
expects to reach 100,000 Latinos in the DC area through a confidential bilingual
telephone hotline (1-888-NO-TRATA) and Spanish-language commercials, bus ads,
community presentations, and articles in Latino newspapers.

• Launched the Community Legal Interpreter Bank. The Interpreter Bank provides
legal interpreters to increase access to justice for Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and Limited
English Proficient (LEP) community members. Through the Interpreter Bank, Ayuda
recruits, trains, and assigns legal interpreters to legal services programs across DC.

• Provided legal assistance to over 3,500 low-income immigrants. This included 349
cases of domestic violence, 159 cases of unaccompanied/ undocumented immigrant
children, 74 cases of human trafficking, and 41 cases of asylum. Ayuda also handled
239 work authorizations and 141 adjustments of status, helped with 168 renewals for
Temporary Protected Status, and assisted in 75 naturalization cases.

• Referred more than 100 immigrants per month to partner agencies. Ayuda supports
referred clients by ensuring that their basic needs are addressed including access to
food, housing, medical care and counseling.

• Trained hundreds of professionals from partner organizations (police officers, school

counselors, priests, nonprofit intake staff, teachers, etc.) to identify and better serve
immigrants.
Our Clients
Ayuda’s clients are among the most vulnerable people in the Washington, DC region.
They are among the working poor, living in families in which one or more members have
a full time job, but with an income below 200% of the federal poverty line. Many struggle
with low literacy and low English language levels. They face trauma from violence,
separation from extended families, economic hardship, isolation from support network, a
lack of awareness of social benefits, and a fear of deportation. Each week more than 200
immigrants contact Ayuda seeking assistance with a legal claim, protection from an
abuser, or emergency social services. We work with people from all over the world, of all
ages and genders.

Each person has a story – Sebastian’s is just one of thousands.

Sebastian came to Ayuda desperate. As a young child in his native Guatemala,

he endured years of severe abuse and neglect at the hands of his parents. Their
passing left him without a roof over his head and no one to protect or provide
for him. Still a child with no means of supporting himself, Sebastian turned to
the streets.

Seeking escape from the violence and hardships of life on the streets, Sebastian
made his way to the United States. In DC the foster care system placed him at
the Latin American Youth Center, which referred young Sebastian to Ayuda for
legal assistance. Ayuda accepted his case in 2005. At the time he had a final
order of removal and was on the verge of being deported back to Guatemala,
where he had no family, no safety net, and no hope of a better future. After
three long years of hard work and legal wrangling, in June 2008 Sebastian was
finally granted a green card. He is now an intelligent and energetic young man,
with friends and support here in the US and high hopes for his future.

There are hundreds of other abused and neglected immigrant children in the
DC area that need our help to build better, safer, more secure lives for
themselves. We are truly grateful to our donors, partners, and supporters for
making it possible for Ayuda to provide them, and all other low income
immigrants in and around the District – with the legal and social services they
need to change their lives.
Our Financials
Ayuda Statement of Activities
Years end September 30, 2007 and September 30, 2008

Revenue 2008 2007

Foundation grants $1,004,821 $927,756
Government grants $388,958 $269,914
Program service fees $348,452 $224,905
In-kind contributions $1,494,497 $725,666
Contributions $86,400 $108,707
Indirect contributions $41,723 -
Special events $6,877 $33,730
Investment income $175 $2,957
Miscellaneous $1,559 -

Total revenue $3,373,462 $2,293,635

Expenses 2008 2007

Program services $3,125,848 $2,010,328
General and Administrative $268,993 $261,723
Fundraising $92,242 $40,738

Total expenses $3,487,083 $2,312,789

Change in net assets -$88,082 -$25,539

Net assets at beginning of year -$102,291 $243,044

Net assets at end of year -$190,373 $217,505
Our Financials
Our Board and Staff
Board of Directors Staff
Claudia Crichlow, Chair Christina Wilkes, Acting Executive
DC Office of Administrative Hearings Director

Laura Raymond, Development Associate

Alvaro J. Mestre, Vice-Chair
Squire, Sanders & Dempsey, LLP Helen Sanchez, Intake Specialist and
Receptionist
Kristin L. Scotchmer, Treasurer
Community Foundation for the National Anya Sykes, Senior Staff Attorney
Capital Region
Katerina Ehrlich, Immigration Attorney
George Walker, Secretary
The Victory Fund/GLLI Paula Fitzgerald, Immigration Attorney

Monique Fridell Jennifer Podkul, Children's Project

US Department of Energy Attorney

Karen Hanson Alice Lugo, Family Law Attorney

Freedom Prize Foundation
Eric Unternahrer, EOIR Accredited
Immigration Representative
Christine P. Pieper
Jackie Kelley, Immigration Paralegal
Karen Litsinger
Mirixa Corporation AnneRose Menachery, Family Law
Paralegal
Mónica Palacio
The Management Assistance Group Renee Huffman, Social Services Director

Louis Ramos Jennifer Vargas, Social Worker

King & Spalding
Jean Bruggeman, Director, Community
Legal Interpreter Bank
Jason Waite
Alston & Bird, LLP Irfana Anwer, Deputy Director,
Community Legal Interpreter Bank
Christina Wilkes
Ayuda
Our Donors and Friends
Soza, William & Susan Target Corporation
$100,000 or more
Steptoe & Johnson, LLC Valdez, David
District of Columbia Bar Foundation
The Morrison & Foerster Foundation Vega, Jaime
Mousetrap Foundation
Verizon Wireless Wiley Rein, LLP
Wilmer Hale
$50,000 - $99,999
$1,000 - $4,999 Women's Bar Association Foundation
Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz
Alston & Bird, LLP Wood, Judith L.
Foundation
American University, Washington World Bank
College of Law Zuckerman Spaeder, LLP
$25,000 – $49,999
Brunner, Thomas & Rochelle
Altria Corporate Services, Inc.
Chevy Chase Presbyterian Church $500 - $999
Herb Block Foundation
Coppi, Matildo & Laura Attanasio, Donna
Eugene & Agnes E. Meyer Foundation
Covington & Burling, LLP Gonzalez, Maria E.
Taproot Foundation
Cox Farms - Vienna, Inc. Coughlin, Angela M. Kelley
Trellis Fund
The DLA Piper Foundation Grose, Marisa Perez-Grose & Peter K.
United Way
Donado, Cristina Lopez and Jorge Walker, George
Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver and Kaye, Phyllis E.
$10,000 - $24,999
Jacobson, LLP Tellez, Carlos M. & Rachel W.
Arnold & Porter, LLP
Hughes Hubbard & Reed Cooper, Bo
Castro, Carlos
Kyle, Paul Crichlow, Claudia A.
Claudio, Mariano
Maggio & Kattar, P.C. Feldesman Tucker Leifer Fidell LLP
Naomi & Nehemiah Cohen Foundation
Miller & Chevalier Charitable Gilbert, Ronald
Community Foundation for the
Foundation Holland & Knight
National Capital Region
National Council of La Raza Horne, Doug
Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation
Raben, Robert Huertas, Daniel
Hispanics in Philanthropy
Ramos, Louis & Michelle Hulbig, Ngoc Pham & Adam
Inter-American Development Bank,
Roos, Ana Alvaro J. Mestre and Edward A.
IDB-DC Solidarity Fund
Sabagh, Denyse Johnson
Security One Bank Lasa, Monroig & Veve
$5,000 - $9,999
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Lyman, Jennifer P.
Anonymous
Flom, LLP Martins, Jaime
Crowell & Moring
Sorto, Dorris Michael, Mark
Exline, Michelle
Sosman, Alicia B.
Jovid Foundation
Squire, Sanders & Dempsey, LLP
Our Donors and Friends
Pieper, Christine A. Hackett, Clifford Podkul, Theodore B. & Joan K
Plocher, Mary Brittingham and David Hammond, John Portlock, W. Ginevra
Pollak, Stephen Han, Lidia & Lucian D. Rocklin, Craig A.
Schneider, Lawrence A. Hanson, Margaret and James Sacks, Jeffrey
Wrigley, Pamela Hook, Melissa Salih, Michael
Zeniklow, Daniel Hornig, Christopher W. Sarchio, Christina
Humphreys, Lori & David Schroeder, Steve
$100 - $499 Jerome, Richard Schroth, Anne N.
Akman, Jerome & Susan Jovel, Carlos Nelson Smith, Martha K.
Aragon Corporation of America Kamasaki, Charles Stack, Laura
Baach Robinson & Lewis PLLC Kurtz, Keith Stasco, Patricia
Barbarasa, George & Maria LaBarge, Jr., J. Russell Stephansky, Anne S.
Belanger, Maurice M. Laur, Barbara Stevens, Roberta
Bess, John D. Litsinger, Karen Sykes, Anya
Biel, Eric R. Maack, Marcia Tropin, Mitchell
Blockstein, David E. McClenon, Paul Tubman, Ken & Ellen
Bloom, Natalie McKay, Emily G. Tubman, Michael
Brenneman, Diane M. & Lyle E. Melendez, Sara E. Underwood, Lorraine A.
Callaghan, Sean Michael Meyers, Rodbell & Rosenbaum Valenstein, Susan & Carl
Campbell, Mark D. Pugliese and Susan Molinary, Ingrid L. Vasallo, Vivian
Coleman, Homer R. & Carole B. Monderer, Howard & Claire The Washington Post
Colton, Doug Moossy, Robert Weddington, Jeffrey
Dellon, James & Leslie Mott, Andrew & Gail Wilkes, Lyndon & Marjorie
Esselman, James Mutual of America Foundation Wilson, Jack
Estrada, Lisa Niederman, Leni Gonzalez & Lee Winder, Mary & John
Ferrer, Aimee Orr, Allen Wolchok, Carol L.
Flack, Christopher Ostrow, Ron & Alyce Wrin, Evelyn & Bob
Freedman, Roberta Padilla, James & Alice Young, Ryan
Friedman, Abigail Parada, Nino
Gaddy, Joy A. Parr, Carolyn Miller
Gonzalez, Rebecca Patten, Wendy L.
Grossman, Claudio Petcher, Rhett & Sarah
Haase, David & Maria